1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to methods and devices for accurately cutting construction materials, specifically to an improved time saving measurement system and a method by which to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of cutting construction materials on a job site, the system and method involving the imprinting during manufacture of grids and other measurement markings onto one or more surfaces of the construction materials. Applications may include, but are not limited to, use on structural and non-structural panels such as wallboard; shower board; oriented strand board (OSB); insulation; gypsum board; plywood; fire retardant panel products; HARDE BACKER and other HARDE PANEL products both manufactured by the James Harde Corporation from wood pulp fiber and/or fiber cement/ gypsum and/or a combination thereof; structural and non-structural panels manufactured by Louisiana-Pacific Corporation such as their TOP KNOTCH.RTM. tongue-and-groove OSB flooring product and their OSB sheathing products including TECH SHIELD.RTM., structural and non-structural panels manufactured by United States Gypsum Company such as their cementatious board DURROCK.RTM., and interior sheetrock gypsum panels including GREEN BOARD.RTM.; structural and non-structural panels manufactured by Custom Building Products, Inc., including their WONDERBOARD.RTM. product for underlayment; structural and non-structural panels manufactured by Georgia Pacific Corporation and Willamette Industries, Inc. such as their plywood products for wall sheathing, roof laydowns, and flooring; and any other essentially rectangular material which must be cut to exact measurements on a construction or renovation job site.
2. Description of Prior Art
During construction and renovation work building materials must be accurately measured prior to cutting to ensure that they will perform the functions for which they were intended. When building materials are mismeasured and a cut piece is too large for its intended use, additional time must be spent to reshape it. If a cut piece is too small and subsequently used, gaps may be present in a finished structure which detract from its appearance, and the functional integrity of the structure may also be compromised. Materials cut too small and discarded result in financial loss. Therefore, it is desirable to have a means for accurately and expediently cutting building materials on construction and renovation job sites.
One way to create a smaller piece of construction material out of a larger one is through the use of a tape measure and a marking device, such as a pencil, to place a series of small marks upon at least one surface of the large piece of construction material at a measured distance from one of its straight edges. The person cutting the material may then use the marks as an approximate cutting guide. In the alternative, the person needing to cut the construction material can connect two or more of the marks with a line, such as by use of a snapped chalk line or by using a pencil and a straight edged device, the line then being used as the cutting guide. The main disadvantage of making and connecting measurements marked on a piece of construction material at a job site is that it is time consuming. When sufficient time is taken to accurately place the marks, the accuracy of the cut is greatly improved, but at the expense of increased labor cost. Also, human error is commonly associated with the field measurement of multiple marks on a piece of construction material. People coming to work tired for a variety of reasons, those working outside for extended hours in extreme temperature conditions, and those pressured to finish a project in a short period of time, do not always focus their attention on the tape measure markings and can easily misread them, particularly the fractional markings. Also, lines which are thickly marked onto construction materials may also lead to cutting errors, particularly when a variance in the portion of the thick line cut is extended the full length of a four foot by eight foot, four foot by ten foot, or four foot by twelve foot sheet of construction material. The mistakes which result from such cutting errors waste both time and materials if they are not corrected prior to cutting.
Cutting tools are also known which aid in making precise cuts in drywall and other construction materials. The invention in U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,965 to Rowley (1993) discloses a utility knife with an angled structure associated with its housing which provides a guiding surface for making angled or mitered cuts along the edge of a piece of construction material, such as drywall. The invention in U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,342 to Lang, Jr. (1993) discloses a knife fastened to a rod which passes through an opening in a guide that rides along the edge of a piece of construction material. Graduations on the rod allow new cut widths without the repeated use of tape measures and marking devices.
Intersecting and angled lines printed upon construction materials are also known. The inventions in U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,402 to Putz (1989), U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,788 to Hassan (1989), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,489 to Robell, (1997) all disclose lined patterns on construction materials to facilitate the use and placement thereof. The present invention is an improvement in the gridded measurement system and method disclosed by Robell in the 1997 patent mentioned above. The improvements incorporated into the present invention comprise the addition of multiple non-perimeter horizontal and vertical unit measurement markings uniformly positioned within the central portion of the construction material surface; multiple protractor markings positioned within the central portion of the construction material surface; inverted numerals on the perimeter and non-perimeter horizontal and vertical unit measurement markings, reversed perimeter and non-perimeter unit measurement markings; number blocks at intersections of horizontal and vertical unit measurement markings; centrally positioned informational markings; nailing guides, product specifications including trademarked phrases and company names, and short and extended curved line superimposed on the gridded system. These improvements provide a person needing to cut construction materials with an even faster and more accurate system and method for the cutting of construction materials than is possible with any known prior art, particularly when the person is cutting irregularly shaped remnant pieces of construction material. Use of the present invention also minimizes construction waste due to mismeasurement, and each piece of the present invention used on a construction site, including remnant pieces, will provide a handy onsite, time-saving reference for other measurement needs, a reference that can be accurate to one-one-thousandth of an inch, or its equivalent, when markings are laser cut.